14 DAY TRIAL // NAS (network-attached storage) devices have been growing in popularity over the past months, as they offer networks a centralized, high-capacity storage solution, and Synology has just announced its latest product in its line of DiskStation devices. Known as the DiskStation DS410, the new product is aimed at small to medium businesses, as well as home office networks, and has more to offer than just raw storage space. The company has chosen to implement additional features, such as security protocols and software to enhance productivity.
The DiskStation DS410 runs on a central processor with a clock speed of 1.6GHz, has a memory bus of 64 bits, 533MB DDR2 memory, a Gigabit LAN port, a pair of USB ports and an eSATA connector. The maximum storage capacity achievable is of 8TB, when four 2TB drives are used. The most efficient configuration suggested is RAID 5, which allows an average read speed of 115MB/s in a Windows environment, with writing speed limited to 54MB/s. In addition, sharing data is easy through use of the Synology DiskStation Manager 2.3 (DMS 2.3).
Other elements that enhance the product's appeal include 256-bit AES Encryption, which safeguards stored data, and even the Synology hybrid RAID (SHR) utility that optimizes disk capacities with data redundancy when different sized HDDs are used. This significantly simplifies RAID setup.
"Equipped with 256-bit AES hardware encryption engine that can offload the security encryption tasks from CPU cycles, the Synology DS410 will run at an increased performance level when compared to a pure software encryption implementation," said Edward Lin, marketing director of Synology. "The Synology testing lab shows that the hardware encryption engine boasts read speed that is about 200% faster than a pure software encryption. The DS410 provides an optimal price/performance ratio at its price point."
According to Synology, the DiskStation DS410 is already shipping. The price, however, has not been disclosed.